


The Man-Demon

by Junemel-ENG (Junemel)



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Backstory, Baratie Arc (One Piece), Blood and Violence, Falling In Love, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Introspection, M/M, One Shot Collection, Pining, Probably some AUs too, Self-Esteem Issues, Unhealthy Relationships, random headcanons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-08
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:55:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23072809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Junemel/pseuds/Junemel-ENG
Summary: They say demons are born in fire.
Relationships: Gin (One Piece) & Don Krieg, Gin (One Piece) & Sanji, Gin (One Piece)/Sanji (One Piece)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 34





	1. Burn your ships

He hears the tale around the time he's old enough to fight back when the older beggar children try to steal his money.

A captain had taken his crew to a new, hostile land, from which many had fled. When the crew had exited the ship, and everyone had unloaded, they found it burning. Their captain had set it afire, stating that the only thing left to do was either fight and survive together or perish alone. No matter what happened, there was no turning back.

“That’s… suicidal.”

“Maybe. But his men rallied under him like never before. They were scared, you see, and he knew that. So he decided to scare them even more. It’s easy to admit defeat when you know you have the option of retreat. When you know there’s nothing you can come back to… that’s when you really fight. That’s how you win.”

The captain and his crew conquered the island in seven days.

The next morning, Gin finds the sailor dead in the street.

He stops begging. Starts stealing. Fights harder.

* * *

All in all, it’s just a matter of finding what you need to burn.

People cling to things. They have exit strategies, in case they get scared, and postpone their actions until they no longer feel fear, or make attempts never designed to succeed, and Gin-

Gin knows way too much about meaninglessness. Forgotten lives laying on the pavement, ignored or stepped on, hollow eyes- homeless to love. People always, always looking away. There is a dirty kind of violence in poverty – a punishment for a crime you didn’t commit. Sometimes, simply existing is enough.

People cling to a lot of things. Their lives, for one.

At the end of the day, he thinks, staring at the sunset – at the end of the day, the ones who can peacefully sleep at night are the ones who know others stand ready to do violence on their behalf.

The red of the sky matches the blood on his hands.

* * *

They call him Man-Demon, because of course they do, but Gin knows a secret: the scariest thing about monsters is that they don’t exist. That’s why people need them. To seem less monstrous themselves, those who drink, steal, beat their wives, laugh at the homeless, let children starve in the street–

Empathy, kindness, altruism – everything is burnable, in the end. They call him Demon, and they feel better. They find it easier to live, pretending that humans couldn’t-wouldn’t- that he’s part of another, species, something else, not like- 

Whatever helps them sleep at night.

“Man” should be enough to describe him. But he does not mind the other half of his epithet.

They say demons are born in fire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This collection will be 100% Gin-centric because Gin doesn't get enough love, and I decided to become my own content provider by writing fics about him. English is not my first language, so feel free to tell me if you notice a mistake somewhere. 
> 
> I honestly don't know how long this series will be, but even though some one-shots will be connected with others, you'll be able to read most of them as stand-alones. Requests are welcome! (rating may go up in the future)
> 
> Edit: kudos to Rucifie, thanks for the proofreading!!
> 
> Edit 2: (I published this fic in the Anonymous Collection at first becauseI was worried about the potential mistakes... but apparently, it's okay, so... hi)


	2. GinSan - Selfless

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Sometimes, you break your heart in the right way, if you know what I mean.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gratuitous GinSan because I'm extremely self-indulgent

Gin’s hands never linger too long on Sanji –feather-like touches- because what if he stains him, ruins him, if he’s not careful?  He nips, gently, at the place where a neck meets a slender shoulder, and he thinks about all the ways he’s earned his name and all the vulnerable parts of the human body - where to slit and twist and break, and… He could do it, right now, right there, but when his mouth meets that vulnerable, exposed throat, he kisses it instead, earning a breathy sigh.

And when he feels Sanji’s pulse – or maybe it’s his own racing heart - he finds himself unable to look up. It is with a renewed hunger that he buries his face in that pale neck, and kisses it some more, until Sanji’s hands slide up to his hair and each pet, slight pull, and silent gasp bring him closer to desperation.

The hands stop under his jaw, lift his face up. Sanji’s mouth finds Gin’s, and he holds him there, against him – his arms and legs around him, so gentle – but Gin feels like a prey, trapped and at his captor’s mercy.

Their lips part, but their bodies stay still – forehead against forehead. Gin closes his eyes, and the other man gives him a few more pecks before calling his name.

His hair is parted like a halo on the pillow and Gin feels like a sinner.

The hunger never stopped.  There’s something that he needs, craves –it’s consuming him, and he wants to hold Sanji closer, impossibly so, until there’s no way to tell where his being begins and where Sanji ends – a presence, there, in his pounding heart, and maybe he’ll feel whole then, that powerful, nameless urge finally satisfied, melting the dead lump of coal somewhere in him, and he’ll tell him everything, and, and.

He stares and waits.

Sanji kisses him again.

“Come on…” A leg brushes against his thigh, the other one still around his back, and Sanji- Sanji fucking pouts as he tugs at the hem of his shirt. A knee against his left side. Gin stares at that mouth and considers kissing it some more instead, drawing the moment a bit longer. Sanji must see it in his eyes, because next thing he knows, he’s – blind?

Headband, his mind provides as the leg around his back tightens around him and powerful hips move to flip him over. Flat on the bed, he feels a weight settling on his thighs. His shirt is lifted up, and he indulges his lover, bringing his arms up to help him get rid of it. Sanji grins, cute and smug, when he takes his headband off, and the glint in his eyes becomes playful when Gin sits up.

“My turn.” The headband is pulled over Sanji’s eyes and Gin can feel him lean against his hands when they brush against his cheeks.

Moments like this are always too precious, too treasurable to think about anything else but the man in front of him and all the ways he could please him, but he’s only human, and fleeting thoughts sometimes cross his mind. Sex used to be a rushed affair, a race for pleasure, a fast relief that left him numb, empty and almost ashamed of the vulgarity of his primal urges, the way he’d expose himself then, raw, vulnerable, but… this is different. He wants to take his time.

And so, he starts opening the last buttons of the now rumpled shirt, from top to bottom, leaving a trail of kisses on his hot skin as he slowly makes his way down. Going lower and lower, he unfastens the buttons with one hand and uses the other to caress Sanji’s spine, slowly making him bend backwards until his back rests on the bed.

He has to stop for a moment, taking in the view before him.

A lifetime ago, when knowing how to decipher squinting eyes and clenching jaws could make a difference between life or death, this body had lain beneath him, exposed and open in all the wrong ways, and yet so breathtakingly strong in its dignified stillness. Sanji, too old for his nineteen years, strolling around in his streamlined tailor-made suit and slouching like a delinquent, cursing the whole world with that ashtray mouth of his and sitting on unswabbed planks with a smile too big for his face, shoulders heavy with a debt that no one had asked him to carry. _Gin, take that gun and point it at me_ \- and how could he, when he had looked at him like that, grinning like he’d just made his day after saving his life?

That battered body beneath him, steady gaze betraying nothing but silent resolve; the moment he had met those eyes and felt Sanji’s pulse against his knuckles, he had known he had already lost. Because Sanji would never beg him - never ask, never think of asking – and his stubborn selflessness had shattered the demon into a million pieces.

Yes, he thinks as he kisses a sensitive spot on the man’s hip, there is an overwhelming strength in the way Sanji strips his heart bare and gives, and gives, and gives . He will always be ready to let Gin go, and that just makes him want to hold on tighter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (for the record, I wrote a full pwp version but I was so embarrassed that I deleted everything and only kept the beginning... )  
> Thanks for reading! I really love reading comments, so don't be shy!
> 
> edit: march helped me proofread this chapter! (thank you!!!)


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